


red

by satsuha



Category: MapleStory
Genre: Domestic, Gen, M/M, no summary bc my mind blank, post-black mage fight pre-cernium, that's it that's the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 08:23:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20485814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satsuha/pseuds/satsuha
Summary: this has been a contribution to my lumizero agenda thank u for reading





	red

After breaking free of the Black Mage’s curse, Luminous avoided looking into the mirror. For the first few weeks, the sight of his red eye shocked him every morning. And instead of getting used to it, he just grew accustomed to avoiding looking at it at all. He was fortunate that it was only his eye that was affected - he would only have to avoid his own reflection. For that reason, Luminous was glad the world had changed so much since his time. No one would recognize him. No one would question his sudden heterochromia. 

Yet it wasn’t as if he could avoid it altogether. Every time he caught sight of it, he grew to hate it more. It wasn’t as if his eyes looked intimidating enough already. To top it off, he began to react to other people with red eyes as well.

And to that, Alpha was no exception.

The first time their eyes met, a chill ran down Luminous’ spine. His sharp eyes seemed to look right through him, and the crimson colour unnerved him more than usual. 

“It’s you, isn’t it? The half-transcendent of light.” Those were Alpha’s first words to him.

“I wouldn’t call myself a half-transcendent, but yes - my powers do come from a transcendent’s.”

“Hm…” Alpha looked him over. “You don’t look like much of a transcendent.”

Luminous didn’t know whether he should be offended or not. But he did remember regretting what he said afterwards.

“A transcendent isn’t defined by how they look.”

“Really? Then why don’t you show me what a transcendent’s made of?” Without warning, Alpha grabbed the sword on his back from the hilt and swung it forward.

Luminous faltered for a moment but teleported backwards right on time - the blade just barely missed his nose. He was about to grab his weapon to fight back but retracted when he saw that Alpha had sheathed his sword once again.

“That’s enough. If you weren’t able to dodge that, you wouldn’t even be worth my time.” 

With that, he walked away. In the distance, Luminous saw someone - a blonde girl in a similar outfit - run up to his side. 

Twin-like transcendents… and such reckless ones, too. Luminous only hoped they didn’t give Rhinne a bad reputation.

-

When they met again, it was surprisingly in the forest near Lania’s home. But instead of weapons in their hands, Luminous held a fishing rod, while Alpha had a map in his. 

“Oh,  _ finally, _ someone showed up. Alpha, we should ask him.” The girl beside him nudged Alpha’s arm (a bit too roughly judging from Alpha’s reaction). 

He grumbled in dissent as a response. 

“But Alpha, all you’ve done is get us lost. The least you could do is fix your mistake and ask for help.” 

“We’re  _ not _ lost, Beta! Just give me a few more minutes…” Alpha buried his face into the map in his hands. 

Luminous had half a mind to just leave them and walk back home, but he also didn’t want the two of them stumbling into Lania’s house. They seemed… volatile, to say the least. 

Understandably frustrated, Beta turned to face him and asked, “Do you know this place well? We’re looking fo-”

“See, I found it! Windflower Forest! It’s just to the east from here…” Alpha suddenly perked up, pointing at some spot on the map.

“Windflower Forest? That’s near Henesys, on the other side of the island.” Luminous blurted out. How could someone make such an elementary mistake?

Alpha turned red. “Why don’t you show us where it is then, if you’re so smart?” 

“That’s exactly what I was trying to suggest.” Beta rolled her eyes. 

Luminous was half-taken aback, and half-amused at the whole spectacle. It was such a large contrast with their first encounter, he almost cracked a smile. 

“I don’t mind taking you there, but I’ll have to visit home first…”

“We’ll wait here, then.” Alpha huffed.

“...and you should probably come along, unless you want to get lost again.”

“That sounds good.” Beta added. 

Alpha looked like he was about to retort, but kept his mouth shut. 

“Follow me, then.” 

As they walked through the forest, the twigs crunching underneath their feet, Luminous could hear some of the small talk between them.

“Alpha, did you see that? It was so cute…”

“You are  _ not _ going monster catching again. Last week was a disaster.”

“But these monsters look so weak. It should be fine.”

“Just… just don’t.”

As they walked further into the forest, it slowly began to thicken, the space between the trees visibly narrowing.

“...I’ve never seen so many large trees in one place before.”

Alpha groaned in response. “Yeah, I can’t wait to see the sky properly again.”

“You’ve never been to Ellinia before?” Luminous asked suddenly.

“No.” Beta replied shortly. 

“We haven’t been around Victoria Island much, technically. We’ve only been to an… alternate version of Henesys.” Alpha elaborated.

“Interesting. Is that why you want to go to Windflower Forest?” 

“Yeah. But I guess it’s not bad to explore the rest of Maple World, too.” 

“But you’re transcendents of Maple World, correct? Where were you until now?”

Alpha looked hesitant to answer, and he looked over at Beta, who gave him a slow nod. 

“...The world we lived in was an alternate Maple World, created by Commander Will. We only recently managed to escape that place.”

Luminous suddenly regretted asking them. “...I see. I apologize for asking.”

“Why are you apologizing? It’s not like you knew about it. That’s why we told you.”

Luminous didn’t reply. Alpha brushed it off as if it was no big deal, but he didn’t want to push the conversation any further. 

They kept walking through the forest. Luminous couldn't hear any talking from behind him anymore - only the sound of boots crushing twigs on the forest floor that indicated that they were still following him. This was definitely the first time the way home felt so long. 

“Oh, that’s...”

Beta suddenly spoke up amidst the silence. Luminous looked up to see what she was referring to: they had entered the clearing in front of Lania’s house. 

He could see Lania outside, hanging up laundry. Strange how this clearing was one of the few places in Ellinia that had ample sunlight, but it was certainly helpful for drying clothes. 

“Oh, Luminous! You’re back.” Lania noticed him from afar, but he could see her stop short as she noticed that he had company. 

“Don’t worry, Lania. They’re not enemies. I wouldn’t have let them in the barrier if they were.”

“There was a barrier?” Alpha asked. 

“You didn’t feel it? It kind of felt like the power of Time, but different...” Beta replied. 

“Y-yeah, I noticed that part! I just didn’t know it was a barrier.” Alpha retorted. 

Luminous shook his head slightly, but turned around to see that Lania’s face had lit up. 

“Well, if you’re friends of Lumi’s, please come in and have a cup of tea!” 

Luminous could see the reluctance in Alpha’s face, but Beta’s expression was difficult to read. He would have stopped her, but he knew how stubborn Lania could be and he couldn't blame her for being excited. There were few occasions for visitors to come to the house, if any. 

“I... We...” Alpha started, but Beta whispered something in his ear that made him sigh deeply. “If you insist.”

Beta’s face lit up with a smile. “Thank you.” Luminous wasn’t sure if she was talking to Lania or Alpha. 

As they walked into the house, Luminous went to put down his fishing gear as Lania led the two to the kitchen. He could hear her voice chattering away over sounds of water boiling, tableware clacking and wooden chairs being dragged on the floor. If Lania was so happy about it, he supposed meeting them in the forest wasn’t so bad. 

As he entered the kitchen, he could see that Lania had practically unpacked the entire pantry on the table. Beta was heartily digging into some of her pastries, while Alpha nibbled on a cookie. Luminous could see his foot tapping on the floor. 

“You get to eat these everyday, Luminous? Hm... maybe you should learn how to bake, Alpha.” Beta remarked between mouthfuls of food. 

“Why me?! Make them yourself!” 

“I thought you weren't going to let me in a kitchen after what happened last time?”

“Ooh, what happened? No wait, let me guess. Did you blow up the kitchen?” Lania leaned in eagerly, holding her teacup tight.

Alpha shook his head. “Nothing  _ that _ drastic. The end result was just… unrecognizable. And tasted like it, too.” He shuddered a little at the memory. 

“Well, at least I made  _ something _ . You wouldn’t even give it a shot.”

“Transcendents don’t need to be able to  _ cook _ ! Or bake, or… whatever it is.”

“But it’s so much fun! I can teach you if you’d like, Beta.” Lania perked up.

Beta’s expression remained the same, but Luminous could swear her eyes were twinkling. “Really? ...Can we make some now?” 

“Of course! I’ll need to restock after today, after all.” 

“I won’t mess up this time, Alpha, okay?” Beta said as she got up from her seat. 

“I’m more worried about Lania’s sanity, but… I’ll be looking forward to it.” Alpha smiled a little as Beta followed Lania to the kitchen counters.

“It’ll be fine. Lania’s the most patient person I know.” Luminous finally spoke up. He saw Alpha turn his head quickly at the sound, as if he had forgotten he was here as well.

“Nah, I’m not actually worried. Beta’s not that destructive. I think.” 

“...They seem to be having fun.” And to think Luminous was concerned about how dangerous they could be… frankly, he hadn’t seen Lania enjoying herself so much in a long time.

“Yeah, Beta hasn’t had a lot of chances to go out and experience stuff.”

Luminous raised his eyebrows a little. “I thought you were the same.”

“Oh I, uh…” Alpha looked hesitant, like before. 

There was a moment of silence. He awkwardly picked up another cookie, his eyebrows still furrowed.

“...I didn’t have many chances to experience the world either, myself. For someone who was around centuries ago, I must confess I know very little of what Maple World was like back then.”

Alpha stopped and turned to him again.

“I grew up in an artificial magical space known as Serenity. For reasons I didn’t know back then, I suppose I was confined there. Kept hidden away from the Black Mage. In fact, I didn’t find out the truth of it all until very recently.”

Luminous wasn’t sure what was making him speak. Maybe it was his fatigue from fishing, or maybe it was the cozy, story-time atmosphere in the kitchen at the moment. Either way, he had clearly piqued Alpha’s interest.

“The truth?”

“You know about it, of course. That I am the light the White Mage shed off when he became corrupted. Aurora deemed it necessary to protect me from him, even at the cost of… a dear friend’s life.”

Luminous sighed, but his eyes trailed over to Lania, who was happily instructing Beta with a large smile on her face. Lucia… no, Lania was safe, and that was all that mattered now.

“It’s funny. Despite my childhood, I was always drawn to forests. I now know why. I was born here, back when it was known as the Forest of Peace. As bittersweet as those memories are, I suppose this is truly my home.”

“...Bittersweet, huh…”

Alpha let out a deep sigh. 

“The trees here remind me of Shadowvale. Where I… grew up, I guess. Except I don’t know how much of what I remember is real. Will messed with my memories -  _ nine  _ times, at that - so I don’t trust any of my childhood memories.”

“But I don’t think that’s a shame or whatever. My life began when Beta’s did; the day she woke up in the Umbra Temple. Shadowvale’s not my home anymore. But I guess forests still bring back bad memories.”

He sunk into his chair, turning his head to the window.

“...This place isn’t so bad, though.”

Luminous smiled. Alpha glanced at him, and his eyebrows furrowed.

“Just so you know, I’m only telling you because you decided to dish out your life story all of a sudden.” 

“But I didn’t ask you to do the same.”

“Yeah, but...! Oh, whatever.” 

“Do you regret telling me?”

“...Weirdly, no. I felt like you’d understand it, anyway. I might have been happier when the truth was hidden away from me, but I don’t care. I’d rather live a miserable life if it meant I didn’t live as someone’s  _ puppet _ .”

Luminous mulled over his words for a moment. Did they hold true for himself, as well? It was true that his years with Lania had been one of the happiest times of his life, but…

“There’s no saying that says you can’t be happy after finding out the truth. It just allows you to start again, doesn’t it?” 

Alpha smirked. “Yeah. Sure, it’s a pain watching over Beta sometimes, but I’d never want to return to my old life.”

“Looks like you understand.” Luminous nodded. “Why don’t you start looking at forests in a different light? Maple World has some beautiful forests, after all.”

“...Yeah, maybe we’ll come visit again sometime.”

“I’m sure Lania would appreciate your company.” And so would he, Luminous thought to himself.

At that moment, Beta approached the table with a tray in her hands. “They’re done.”

He saw Alpha jump a little at the sudden sound, and watched as Beta placed the tray in front of him. It was filled with an array of golden-brown cookies, some more ambiguously shaped than others.

“Go on, try them!” Lania appeared as well, her hands clasped together in glee.

“This one is Alpha.” Beta pointed at one of the oddly-shaped cookies on the tray. Alpha squinted at it in response.

“And this one is me, and Pietta, and Benedict, and…” Her voice fell low as she trailed off.

“Thanks, Beta.” Alpha said quickly. “...Are you telling me to eat the me-cookie though?”

“Oh, you can eat mine if you don’t want to.”

“N-no, actually, that’s even weirder. Alright, here goes…”

Alpha closed his eyes as he bit into the cookie; Luminous watched in quiet amusement at the look of anticipation in Beta and Lania’s eyes.

“...Well?” Luminous asked after a moment.

“It’s… good.” Alpha said, his eyes widening.

Beta’s face lit up. Lania grabbed her hands and laughed, “He liked them! That’s great!”

In the end, most of the cookies were eaten by Beta. Luminous supposed all she needed was Alpha’s word of approval. Penny was awoken by the racket in the kitchen, and Luminous had to excuse himself for a while to prepare her meal with the fish he caught earlier that day. Even despite Luminous’ rare contributions to the conversation, in between Alpha and Beta’s banter and Lania’s curiosity, he found himself enjoying himself regardless.

When the sun began to set, the two guests realised they had overstayed their welcome, and started making their way back. 

“I’m so sorry, you were intending to go to Henesys today, weren’t you?” Lania apologized at the doorway.

“It’s fine. It wasn’t urgent or anything, anyway.” Alpha shrugged.

Beta smiled. “We should be thanking you, instead. I had a nice time.” 

“Will you be alright finding your way back?” Luminous asked. 

“We’ll warp back to the Temple for tonight, so no worries.” Alpha said.

“I see. Well then, have a pleasant evening.” 

Alpha nodded and the two set off, stopping for a moment in the forest clearing to wave back once. Then, in a flash of blue light, they were gone.

“They’re gone. We’ve certainly had several interesting guests recently.” Lania giggled.

“I suppose you’re right.” Luminous murmured. He looked up at the glimpses of the sky that peeked through the forest ceiling, the evening sun dyeing the sight crimson. 

What a warm colour red can be, he thought.

**Author's Note:**

> this has been a contribution to my lumizero agenda thank u for reading


End file.
